


The Art of Divide and Conquer

by deltasyork



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Arguing, Character Death, Developing Relationship, M/M, Past Relationship(s), Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-31
Updated: 2015-10-14
Packaged: 2018-04-18 07:59:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4698344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deltasyork/pseuds/deltasyork
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was never something that he thought he would seriously contemplate. Locus was a merc. He wasn’t loyal to anyone other than the one that was offering the money out to him, so why was he asking Washington to do this? He’d spent the past few weeks telling Washington that he wasn’t a true soldier and now he wanted him to switch sides. To diverge his loyalty from his friends, to those that had made his life a living hell in just a few short weeks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Diversionary Tactics

**‘Think about it’**

It was never something that he thought he would seriously contemplate. Locus was a merc. He wasn’t loyal to anyone other than the one that was offering the money out to him, so why was he asking Washington to do this? He’d spent the past few weeks telling Washington that he wasn’t a true soldier and now he wanted him to switch sides. To diverge his loyalty from his friends, to those that had made his life a living hell in just a few short weeks. What made the Merc think that he’d take him up on the offer? He’d threatened the existence of the whole of Chorus. It was so out of the blue and abrupt that there would be no way for anyone to predict that this had even been offered to him. It made him wonder whether the green soldier had even brought it up with his loud-mouth friend that was currently taking on Tucker.

_Tucker._ The Reds. The Blues. They were fighting a merciless soldier that wouldn’t stop if it got in the way of the money bags that he’d been promised and he was stood there looking at Locus as if he was mad and wasn’t doing anything to try and bring them down. Before the contemplation of trying to hurt Locus arose, the man had disappeared.

 

_________

 

He couldn’t just abandon his team. The Blues needed him. Or he thought they did. Ever since that meeting with Locus, he’d started to notice the disdain that they held for him. It was like they thought he was still just a rookie that was trying to follow them around and act cool. He’d say something and they would roll their eyes, or it seemed like that was what they were doing. Their body language screamed annoyance. Screamed that they just wanted him to back off and to stop bothering them, even just for a little bit.

It was the way that Carolina brushed him off, yelled at him for not taking things seriously or for blaming the others for their incompetence too much. Sometimes she’d say she was working the soldiers too hard, even though it was no different to what he had to endure the same experience when she was their leader back during the times of the project. It was the same thing that Locus had originally been telling him. He needed to own up to what he had done wrong but it was so hypocritical coming from her. When Carolina admitted that it was her fault that Maine died, that she was the cause of the Meta, then he’d admit to his mistakes. He’d already admitted to most of them; that talk with Donut and apologising for shooting him was hard enough. The innuendos were endless and the guy had this innocent look on his face. It gave Washington a complex. No one was that naive, right? Well, no one other than Caboose, anyway.

He was just so sick of hearing that know-it-all tone from the A.I. They weren’t on good terms, would never be on good terms after what had happened to him. What it had done to him. The only reason he’d even considered pretending to be okay with it was because he didn’t want to put the team through more shit, more tension and awkwardness, that they couldn’t already handle.

It was the way that just when Washington assumed he was alone that blue light would flicker, and the sarcastic voice would drone on and on as if he was an omnipotent being that decided the love of the people.

The sooner it realised that it was just a computer program and not a god the better for everyone. Of course, he was the only one who thought this. Kimball, Doyle, the Feds, the New Republic, they all treated them like gods or a human being still capable of all the human functions rather than a computer program it well and truly was and they shouldn’t. It wasn’t good for anyone to put that much trust into such a small number of people. Being loyal, trusting people, it was a dangerous game. A game that Washington had lost many a time and he didn’t know whether he wanted to go through that again. He knew that he didn’t want to go through any of that again.

 

___________

 

Orchestrating a way to cross over to the others (he refused to call them enemy) was the most difficult part of the plan. Finding radio frequencies where he would just so happen to stumble upon Locus was hard, and they were few and far between. He'd almost been caught out numerous times in the hopes of finding the green armoured soldier. The agent knew that he had to be more careful - that had been made obvious in the past few weeks - however after the initial realisation that he was fighting for the wrong side, it was becoming increasingly difficult for the young man to be able to stand his teammates.

"Soon, Agent Washington."

He hadn't found comfort in a voice for a long time, not since the project. There was never anyone that could calm him as well as Maine had, and even then he was ripped from him when he needed him most. Maine, alone, gave a substantial amount evidence to the table behind the reason why he hated A.I and why he hated the project so much. That was before even considering North and York.

The promise of soon was one that made optimism rise in his body once more. Optimism was a foreign concept to him after everything. Any ounce of happiness he had was replaced with sarcasm and bitterness.

When you lived the life that Washington had, optimism was something that was rare to come by. It was rare that a day went well for him.

He’d defeated the Director, then they crashed and he was left to take care of both the Reds and the Blues. He had to make sure no one was killed in the fake war that Sarge was continuously fighting and got injured in the mean time. He tried to do his best for the Blue Team and they were quick to replace him as captain. He just needed an out that would make optimism more common. At least as common as it could be when fighting a war.

 

_____

 

It took less time than he thought to join the pirates. A well-timed attack with an easy ‘self-sacrifice’ act was all he needed to get the Reds and Blues to leave him behind. He held up his hands and wandered out and apparently the Pirates already knew the mercs plan because they weren’t shooting at him anymore.

When it seemed safe enough, he let his hands drop back down to his side and waited as two black-armored pirates made their way towards him.

“Agent Washington?” He nodded his head and then he was being led towards the pelican that they had came down in. Somehow, it hadn’t been damaged in the crossfire but he wasn’t going to question it. They’d managed to orchestrate a plan where Washington would be able to abandon his team and switch to the other side on disused radio frequencies and were never caught. They’d pulled off a lot with this plan.

He’d expected at least Locus here to welcome him. Maybe the amount of optimism he had wasn’t going to increase whilst he was with the pirates. It was awkward. Awkward and tense. He could tell that the soldiers all had questions on the tip of their tongues. Questions like why he was changing sides? Were they still going to get paid if they brought him back? Things that he really didn’t care to answer, that or he didn’t actually have an answer to give them. He guessed that one of their objectives was to kill him and he didn’t know whether that was still going to stand now that he was on their side. That wasn’t something that Washington needed to think about right now. He could focus on that after he’d managed to get on the good side of the majority of them.

“I can’t tell you anything that you don’t already know, I’m sure.” He tried to keep the condescending tone out of his voice but it was difficult when you had spend months using it.

It shut them up though and maybe that wasn’t a good thing. The rest of the flight was passed in a tense, awkward silence.

 

______

 

“Welcome to your new base, Agent Washington.”

It wasn’t a lot really. Then again, Armonia was a city and they had resources, he knew that that wasn’t what he was going to be greeted with. Given the last time they’d been at a Fed base he should have guessed that it wouldn’t be like that either.

The soldiers that had brought him back had quickly dispersed when Locus had came to meet them. He was tempted to ask where Felix was because he hadn’t heard that annoying voice in a while. That and he’d expected him to turn up and go on about how Wash had made ‘the right choice’ by abandoning the sim troopers. He’d probably go on about how he ‘broke little Tucker’s heart’, whatever that meant. Even in the few times that he’d met him, Wash had a good read on Felix’s personality and he wasn’t really a big fan. The Freelancer would just have to get used to it, in the end, he’d decided that he was going to stick by him. He didn’t have any other choice.

“It’s definitely… something.” He sounded like he was browsing a new home, and in some ways he was but he couldn’t be picky about wall decor right now, could he? The laugh from Locus must have meant that he’d caught onto his tone. At least Locus was somewhat okay with him being here, unlike the standard soldiers that seemed to be less than comfortable with having the ex-Freelancer with him.

“It won’t take long to get used to. You probably won’t spend a lot of time here anyway. If you’re needed, we will find you. Chorus can only last so long.” Wash knew that there was something Locus hadn’t said but he was thinking.

Chorus could only last so long but it had already lasted a lot longer than either of the Mercs wanted.

 

 


	2. Familiar Faces

It still didn’t feel anything like a home. It didn’t feel like a sanctuary where they were safe from the enemy. It wasn’t the Mother of Invention where he had Maine and his friends. There was no where to be alone around here, apparently. No matter where he went there were soldiers there, watching him. It was like they were just waiting for him to make a mistake so they could prove that he was some sort of spy that was trying to bring them down from the inside. They seemed unwilling to let him even leave the inside of the base. Every time he got close to getting out, there was someone calling him in the opposite direction. It was becoming extremely annoying and he didn’t know what to do to try and get away for a moment. Even though he was part of the team, they seemed to still be treating him as if he was a prisoner. He had less freedom here than he did when he was trapped at the Feds base.

Washington was desperately searching for a way to get away from all of the soldiers. He just needed five minutes alone. That was all he wanted but no one seemed to understand that. He didn’t even know where he was. All of the hallways were the same. The lights were too bright and the hallways were empty. It always seemed too quiet as well. Even when the soldiers were wandering around there didn’t seem to be too much noise. Most of the noise came about when Felix was somewhere yelling about how he’d been wronged.

That was what had led him to walk down the corridors that he was sure he hadn’t been down before. At least, he was guessing he hadn’t been down them but he couldn’t really tell. No one was following him now, though, and it seemed to be like he wasn’t going anywhere where he could get into trouble. If he wasn’t supposed to be in this area then he was sure something would have happened to make him have to turn around and walk in the opposite direction.

“Jesus Christ,” He mumbled to himself. The blonde came to a stop and tried to take in some sort of clue that would tell him where he was. “I’m so fucking lost.” At this point he may as well just walk into any room and he’d probably be alone. It was a big risk but it was worth a shot. If he walked a little bit longer then he may be able to get some bearing on where he was.

 

________

 

Washington wandered around for another few minutes, ten at most, before he decided to just give up. No matter where he went there’d be a chance that he’d find someone that could direct him somewhere familiar. If he looked at the bright side, then at least he had got the time alone that he’d wanted. That he just been ruined a little bit by the fact that he’d got lost and had basically no hope of finding his own way back through the labyrinth of hallways and rooms.

He pushed open the next door he came to. It was just his luck that he was stuck in a room with a guy that had a need for the worst kind of revenge on Project Freelancer.

Sharkface hadn’t really made himself well-known to Wash. He knew that he was working with the Mercs, Locus and Felix had made that known to him. In all honesty, the blonde was a little bit worried how the other would react to Wash being on his side. It was one less Freelancer that he could kill if he didn’t want to be a team-killing fuck. He never thought that Sharkface would have survived after being hit with a plane, having a gravity hammer thrown at him and then having a building collapse on top of him. This guy was definitely something else but it was pretty obvious that it had definitely had some affect on him. Wash assumed that the scars that covered his face were caused by their actions the last time they’d met but he had no idea about the eye. Was that what caused the nickname? Was that why he had such an affinity for Sharks? He could ask him all of these questions but he didn’t know whether the other would appreciate it.

The armor he wore now was in no way comparable to the armor that the Insurrection members had back during the times of the project. It was so boring in comparison. Maybe he would decorate it to make it the same as his old armor or maybe this was a way for him to be more undercover.

“You gonna stare all day?”

The voice was gruff and low and it made Wash snap out of his thoughts to look at him properly. Instead of speaking he took a seat on the bench near where the man was working on his helmet. He slipped his own helmet off, dropping it beside him. If he could see the man’s face, it seemed only fair that he could see Wash’s as well. He heard the annoyed sigh as the man turned back to his work and Wash was left wringing his hands together as he tried to think of what to say. The silence carried on for quite a while and it was obvious that Sharkface wasn’t going to be the one to start the conversation between the two of them.

“We didn’t give you enough credit,” he said, followed by a weak laugh. He kept his eyes trained on his hands, not wanting to look up to see the reaction. “Maybe… Maybe I gave the Project too much credit.”

That was when he glanced up. It was only for a moment but he looked up to see what Sharkface was doing and was met with a sight that told him everything he needed to know. The man’s shoulders were hunched and his whole body was tense. From the small part of his face that he could see, he could see the confusion etched over his face. It was the same confusion that was filling his mind. Talking about the Project probably wasn’t the best idea. Talking to the guy that had lost everything because of the Project was the worst idea but apparently Wash just wanted to make everything worse.

“I want… uh… I want to apologise for that by the way. Everything that the Freelancers put you through, your friends through.”

“Don’t talk about them.”

“None of us knew that we were the bad guys. We had a conflict of interests and the Director was good at manipulating us. I’m pretty sure none of us knew the whole truth. Except C.T, of course. If I’d known all of that then I’d probably do the same as her. If I was brave enough anyway. I was just the rookie that shouldn’t really be on the project but I was picked. It was my job to prove that everything the Director gave me was worth it. You saw how useless I was back on that heist to get the Sarcophagus, I didn’t hit you with a single bullet because I was too busy being distracted. I was so determined in proving a point that I didn’t register the things that showed how wrong the Project was. I owe you a lot more than just a simple apology, Sharkface, I’ll be the first to admit to that.  I don’t know what I can do to make it up to you, there’s a lot to make up for, but I want to at least attempt making things better between us. We’re teammates now and that takes a level of trust and while I trust that you wouldn’t turn your back on a teammate, no matter how much you hate them, I don’t know whether you trust me enough to work well with me.”

The man turned around and stared at Washington. He couldn’t read his features, he couldn’t figure out what was going through his head.

All he could really hope for was that Sharkface would take this offer and try to do something to ease the steps towards trust between the two.

“I have no reason to trust you. The only reason you’re not dead right now is because you’re a teammate.”

“Then give me a way to earn your trust so we can move past everything that’s happened. At least just a little bit of it.” Wash was pleading now. His tone of voice was making it obvious and he was just a tiny step away from truly begging the man in front of him to give him a chance. He didn’t care about the trust of Felix and Locus, he already had even a tiny amount there. Sharkface was giving him nothing and he needed to fix it.

The man’s hands clenched into fists and then  relaxed over and over again while he thought. If he was actually thinking of a way for the blonde to fix things. At the same time, the ex-Freelancer was leaning forwards, elbows resting on his knees with his hands wrapped together in front of him. All he was waiting for was an answer, some small inkling that could blossom into a hope that things would get better between the two of them.

“I’ll think about it.”

Realistically, that was all he could get but that didn’t mean that Wash’s shoulders didn’t slump in disappointment when it hit him that they weren’t going to resolve their issues too quickly. He just couldn’t push. He needed to give the man the space that he both wanted and needed to fix their non-existent relationship.

Right now, he’d take all he could get.

 

_______

 

“Agent Washington, meet Price.”

The shock at seeing the familiar face stopped his heart for a moment, he was sure of it. That shock was slowly removed and replaced by rage that he still held since he had been paired with the Meta and caused the true death of Maine. His face was no longer relaxed, but instead morphed into a glare that was directed fully at the older man.

Neither of them made a move to greet each other and Wash could tell that only one of the three people in the room was confused by the hostilities.

His eyes travelled to  look at Locus, who was pointedly avoiding his gaze, and then to Felix who had a grin on his face that Wash was more than ready to punch off if it came down to it. In his peripheral vision, he took in Sharkface. His body announced confusion whilst his face was void of emotion. This was going to be one hard guy to break through.

“Let’s just get the conversation going, shall we? Why are we here?”

Washington was trying to hide any sort of contempt he had towards the man because it was quite obvious that they were hiding his true identity for some reason.

“We’re here to discuss your old team. Namely, Epsilon.”

The reaction was instantaneous and he knew that everyone in the room saw it. The way that all of Washington’s body tensed up at the mere mention of the name. He wanted to forget about him, he didn’t want to have to think about what the computer programme had done to him during it’s time in existence. He’d never been able to wipe the memory of the implantation from his brain. The thing committed suicide in his head but was fine to work with Carolina.

“He’s an A.I. that controls Carolina’s suit. What use is he?”

“There are certain… ideas that are being passed around by Charon. Many of the experiments they want to move into motion include the introduction of an A.I. Any problems that we learn of when it comes to Epsilon can be taken into consideration when making final decisions.”

The Counselor sounded exactly like he had the last time he had encountered him. Too calm for his own good, with a patronising tone that made him feel too queasy about the whole situation. That tone of voice just reminded him of everything that people had hidden from him. The truth of the Project, what the Meta was really going to do when he had the Beta unitt. He didn’t want to come into a new situation only to be greeted by the same old situations. He didn’t really know how many more of those he could handle.

“You could start by not using terror to tear an A.I. programme into it’s different attributes. If another fragment is created like Sigma and Omega then there’s only going to be trouble,” that was when he realised that he couldn’t talk about Project Freelancer like he was talking to the Counselor, he had to act like he was talking to a complete stranger. That was when he realised just how deep of a hole he had dug himself. Now he had to remember Maine. He had to remember what he was, and what Washington had lost and it was all down to the actions of a man that stood directly opposite him. He locked eyes with him and he knew exactly what the man was thinking because Wash was thinking the same thing.

“Sigma was the A.I. that Agent Maine of Project Freelancer received after being shot in the throat. With the Creativity and Ambition attributes, it seemed to go through A.I. rampancy faster than any of us thought. Most of us were led to believe that Fragments couldn’t go through these phases because of what they were. Fragments. Sigma was always different though. Sigma wasn’t just one attribute, but two. Appeared like fire, constantly spoke of ‘burning ambition’ and that goddamn voice-” his fist was clenched again and he had to stop speaking. He became far too acquainted with that voice after the implantation. Even when he was told to go offline, he was still there.

The A.I. seemed to always understand how to push Washington’s buttons, how to push him to anger in mere seconds only for Maine to come back and try to help him. The voice was always calm. Condescending in tone and sinister to the core. They should have realised something about that stupid computer program from it’s voice alone.

Omega was the same. In the few interactions that he’d had with it, it made Wash feel just as uncomfortable as the other A.I. did. It wasn’t a good thing to think about, not when he was in front of four people that would easily use this information against him.

“-Alien temples near by. Apparently these have been here for a while and the people of Chorus know about them. We’re starting there to look for anything. If we can find a way to make the alien weapons work then at least we have one upper hand.”

Locus had cut across his thoughts and brought him back. Wash had to glance around the room, eyes locking with Sharkface’s for a moment before he was quickly looking away. He didn’t need the man to see he worries that were playing out across his face. Not when he didn’t know how to explain everything he was feeling. Not when it was something that he wanted to forget.

“We’re all going. Out of base. Do you think you’re ready, Agent Washington?”

Wash was more than ready. He couldn’t wait to get out of the stupid base. There was the initial worry that he would be caught by the Reds and Blues, but wasn’t that the point of being on the other team? He wasn’t going to get through this war without seeing them and the sooner it happened the better.

“Let’s do this,” He nodded.

 


	3. I Guess They Were Your Friends.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was like taking care of children, the way that they bickered and argued about as much as they possibly could. Neither of them were the true warrior. That much was obvious. If a true warrior was someone that couldn’t stand to be wrong and wouldn’t think things through then they were all fucked.

It was like taking care of children, the way that they bickered and argued about as much as they possibly could. Neither of them were the true warrior. That much was obvious. If a true warrior was someone that couldn’t stand to be wrong and wouldn’t think things through then they were all fucked.

“How do you know I’m not the true warrior?”

“Because you’re you.”

Wash just wished Sharkface was there because at least he was a bit more sensible than these two idiots. No, he was off getting his armor ready, or something along those lines, and he was left to watch these to throw quips back and forth at each other.

There hadn’t really been a lot of change in his relationship with the old Insurrection member. They’d talked a bit more and he seemed to be less hostile than he was originally but there was still doubt there. Washington could see the urge to forget about being teammates and to get revenge for what he had done to his family so many years ago. Wash couldn’t blame him. His reaction to South after learning that she’d killed North wasn’t exactly pleasant. His reaction to the Councillor, Director and Carolina wasn’t the best and he blamed them for the Meta incident. His grudge against the A.I.s still held strong even after so long. Sharkface had every right to be pissed and Washington wasn’t trying to suggest he didn’t but he knew that he needed to keep a lid on it otherwise who knew what would happen?

Before he could even say anything to the other two about being careful they’d already jumped their way in. All the blonde could do was sigh and turn back to the Pirates that seemed to be waiting for orders.

“Just… take a look around. See if there’s anything useful here. They could be in there for a while.”

He was so tempted to try and jump in himself, to see whether he even stood a chance with whatever was hidden in that other universe that had presented itself to them but fear won over his bravery. The report that their ‘test subject’ had given them wasn’t very good at making him think positively. If everyone had to endure the people that they’d killed then he didn’t think he’d be able to handle it. No, he was perfectly fine staying out of the glowing light and ordering around the rest of the sane people that were left.

 

_______

 

Felix was the first out. Landing in a heap at Wash’s feet. The Freelancer wasn’t used to such a tense frame from the other, but he knew better than to bring it up. Instead, he reached out a hand to help him back to his feet. It was unlikely that the man was going to accept any help, he was too proud for his own good, but Felix shocked him and actually accepted it. There was obviously something wrong. He wouldn’t be able to guess what had happened on the other side of that portal but Wash was mentally congratulating himself for not jumping in when he had the chance. For once he’d had enough common sense to do something good for himself.

“Hey, Fe-” He was cut out by the reappearance of Locus.

The aggressive tone of voice that he used as he interrogated Felix told Wash that nothing about going into that Portal was good. He’d never seen Locus as anything more than the cool and collected soldier but now he was actually showing that he had emotions, emotions that could be pushed to the very edge by whatever unknown was thrown at him whilst in that portal.

As the two Mercs argued, he found himself being pulled closer to the portal, the urge to fall into the light becoming stronger and stronger. He couldn’t jump in there, not after the reactions that the other two had had. He still found himself crouching down near the opening.

He could only guess what happened when the other two went in. If he saw his biggest fears then he could already call what he would see. Maine and the Meta flashed through his mind, the thoughts of the Epsilon implantation. He didn’t want to relive anything like that. He didn’t want the others to see the effects that those few memories had on him. Just because they worked together didn’t mean he trusted him enough to tell them all about his past with Maine and the true feelings he had towards Epsilon.

He was the biggest hypocrite really. He was trying to get Sharkface’s trust when he didn’t trust them all that much himself. How could he make someone trust him when he didn’t trust them?

Miraculously, Felix hadn’t came over and pushed him in and he was brought out of his thoughts to the sound of a soldier calling for him.

“We’re heading out, Locus and Felix have a head start. You were kind of lost there... Are you okay?”

Wash simply nodded his head and headed out after his teammates. “Hey, did anyone mention where Sharkface was? It just… maybe he would have been some use back at the portal, you know?” Maybe he was being too obvious in his need to figure out how to make the man trust him but he was genuinely interested in why the man hadn’t turned up with the rest of him. He was sure that he’d heard something about fixing armor but other than that he wasn’t sure.

“He’s on his way down, Sir. Should be here soon, though we’ll be heading to Crash Site Alpha so we may not meet.”

Wash nodded mutely and shrugged his shoulders. “Okay. Thank you.” It didn’t make sense to have Sharkface to come here. Why didn’t they just tell him to go straight to the crash site to take out some of the army?

“The Blues are said to be turning up any minute and Sharkface is in charge of that. He has some sort of beef with Carolina, the teal soldier.”

Why was he explaining this to him? Did he not realise that Washington was originally Carolina’s teammate? Apparently not but he was smiling softly inside his helmet at the fact that he didn’t know. He was tempted ask whether he even knew who he was but if he didn't know then there was a reason for it, so he decided to just keep his mouth shut.

 

_________

 

“What if I told you I’d found a way to wipe out everyone on Chorus with the turn of a key? And what if I told you I was heading to that key right now?”

Wash glanced up at Locus and Felix who were perched on a ledge just a little bit higher than himself. He was sure it had something to do with inflating their egos but he wasn’t going to say anything. He glanced over to battlefield of Crash Site Alpha then spoke into the intercom.

“Carolina?”

“She’s here. Two teals, a blue, and a medic. I’m guessing the other three are friends of yours, Agent Washington.”

It wasn’t a question. He knew that Sharkface knew exactly who they were and what they meant to Wash. There was no way the man hadn’t done any research on him, not with the history that they had. He knew exactly who they were, who was who. He may not know Dr. Grey but Caboose and Tucker? There was no way that he wasn’t aware of who they were.

“You could say something like that,” He answered, voice low as he avoided looking at Felix and Locus for anything more than a second.

Felix cut him off, something about Sharkface not going up to the top of that temple alone. He wasn’t really paying attention, however. His mind was stuck in a loop of what could happen to his former teammates. They’d been family at some point. He fought down the worry, the fear, that they may be hurt. They weren’t his to worry about anymore. They were the targets, and he held the rifle that was needed to take them all down.

 

 


	4. Learn to Keep Your Mouth Shut.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carolina might not be dead. Felix let Doyle get away. Why is it Washington that gets the brunt of the abuse on this stupid team?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short one but DEVELOPMENT am I right?

Watching Felix bang the sword off of the table whilst yelling about how frustrated he was was rather entertaining. He knew that he should be annoyed. The now-enemy had gotten away purely because Felix didn’t seem to understand how the sword worked. If they were so desperate for their pay then he assumed that the man would have done some research, or would have been ruthless enough to just kill the General and be done with it. It wasn’t like they had any ties to the man. It wouldn’t affect them.

They could have framed Kimball, made it seem like it was her fault that the General had died and then the armies of Chorus would be split once more. They’d stand no chance against them. One would be leaderless and the others wouldn’t know whether they could trust their leader because she had purposefully sent someone to their death. That thought made him pause for a moment because that wasn't how he thought. He didn't think through framing people and how to break apart an army for his own gains. He'd always thought in a way that would save the masses - barring the meta incident.

"-Fishsticks, the grown ups are talking."

"You clearly shouldn't be part of this conversation then," he spoke up. He was sure he could hear Felix's jaw drop from inside his helmet. He hadn't been an asshole with them, not really, and this was the first time he'd commented in such a way to the three of them. "You're a Merc, Felix. It's your _job_ to do as you're told. To make a decision in a second if needs be. If you'd shut your mouth for a few seconds you could have easily dropped your shield and took out Doyle. They're not smart enough to think of Locus being in a Pelican. This problem's on you."

The man stared for a moment. He was sure the other two were staring as well but he was focused on the orange armor in front of him. He expected a comment sent in his direction. He was ready for the man to charge at him and to slam him against the wall as he spouted out all kinds of nonsense. What he didn’t expect was for the Merc to turn towards Sharkface to speak.

“Get your dog on it’s leash, Sharky. Maybe get a muzzle to stop it barking.”

It was Washington’s turn to stare, his own mouth falling open at the words that were spewing out from the man’s helmet. His fists clenched at his side and he glanced to Locus and the man that Felix was currently staring at.

There hadn’t actually been that many moments where he’d wanted to beat the shit out of one of his new partners but right now he was fighting off the urge, and failing. He needed Sharkface to say something, even if it was just a ‘shut up, Felix’. After the fact that he’d just defended him against the prick, he expected something. The silence told him exactly where he stood with the other man and that was all he needed to know. None of them were speaking and maybe he was naive in thinking that there’d be some sort of comradery between them all. He thought they’d at _least_ try to put Felix in his place whilst they had the chance.

Nothing.

“You’re such a fuckstick,” He growled at him, “You need to learn when to keep your fucking mouth shut.”

With that, he left the room, leaving the idiots behind him as he seethed quietly. If storming down the corridors counted as quietly anyway.

 

*-*-*-*

 

Like many a time on the Mother of Invention, Washington sought refuge in his living quarter, curling up on his bed after shedding his armor with no intention of leaving for the rest of the night. He may have to leave this night, though. His stomach was calling out for food but he didn’t think he’d be able to control himself if he saw Felix whilst he had a fork in his hand. He’d be all too willing to stab him in the eye after the dog comment.

A part of him wondered whether the comment had actually upset him. If he’d been so affected by the name calling that he felt the need to leave. It was so childish. Maybe that was why. Maybe he felt so out of place with the mercs that he was reverting back to the rookie that he was when he started the project. The problem with that idea was that he didn’t know whether he could be bothered to build himself back up into the old Wash again. It had taken so much to get to that point that the energy just seemed to leave him. That, and he really did want to experience anything as embarrassing as getting a grappling hook stuck to his balls again.

 

*-*-*-*

 

At some point he had fallen asleep curled up on that tiny bed and he was only woken when there was a shift in his body from someone sitting on the edge of his bed. The sleep that was still invading his system, plus the setting, was enough to send him into a state of confusion as he tried to fight off sleep.

“Maine?”

If he remembered this moment later then he’d have to make a note to not think about the project before he went to sleep. Thinking about it only affected his dreams and led to mishaps like this. He couldn’t afford to be this sloppy and he knew that this moment would probably come back to haunt him later. Somewhere in the back of his mind, where he was more conscious, he knew that this would come back to bite him in the ass and he wouldn’t know what to do. How to explain what he was feeling.

“Sure.” There was hesitation in that voice, even whilst sleepy Wash could hear it. It wasn’t difficult to understand that ‘Maine’ was confused. That tone of voice was something that the blonde had become used to during his time as a soldier. “Listen, Washington, I just wanted to say thank you for earlier with-”

Wash opened his eyes again, ready to sit up and fight when the words were suddenly cut off. Then something rectangular was hitting him in the shoulder and he searched around his bed fruitlessly as he tried to find what it was in the dark.

“You need to eat. It’s just some sort of bar but take it. Take it as a shitty form of apology for not sticking up for you.”

With that, the weight on the bed started to leave and the man listened intently for the disappearance of the all too familiar clunk of armored boots on metal walkways. Only then did he allow himself to relax and fall back into a slumber, the small bar of food locked firmly in his hand.

 

 


	5. I Want to Know Everything

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Sharkface's turn to ask questions. The only problem is that it's highly unlikely that he'll get any answers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This feels a lot like a filler but the next chapter is definitely longer and we're finally starting to move to the *relationship* part with the two idiots.

After his little experience with Washington, Sharkface found himself being even more intrigued. The blonde definitely wasn’t what he was expecting, that was for sure. He never thought that he’d stand up for him against Felix - he had no need to. Yet the ex-Freelancer still tried and it proved to him that he was genuine on his promise to make him trust him. Not many people went out of their way to start an argument with the Orange Idiot but Washington had refused to allow him to take all of the blame.

That paired with the ‘Maine’ fiasco had him more than hooked on finding out more about this man. He didn’t know why he thought that Aiden would know more but he seemed to know a lot about all of them. With the title ‘Counselor’ it was expected of you to know a lot. That was what pushed the Merc to go to him anyway.

“How can I help you, Sharkface?”

He stood his ground for a moment, staring directly at the man’s back as he tried to figure out how the old man knew it was him. The guy was creepy, creepier than Locus and that said a lot.

Then he was questioning what this other man could really do for him. Getting extra information on their newest teammate wouldn’t explain why he had gone to check on him. It wouldn’t tell him why he had felt the need to go to him and apologise for not backing him up when he went against Felix. Maybe getting answers from the man would only add to his confusion and he’d be even more lost than before. He steeled his gaze and pulled off his helmet,

“I want to know everything about Agent Washington... and Agent Maine.”

It was probably stupid to ask because this man wasn't part of the project. All he had were the files that they'd stolen but he'd known so much about everything else that it seemed ridiculous to not ask. The only other person that could give him answers was the man in question and he didn't really feel like talking to him about it. The feeling in his stomach wasn’t something to be happy about. He couldn’t feel anything for a Freelancer. Especially a Freelancer that played a part in sending him into physical therapy whilst all of his friends were murdered by said soldier and his buddies.

His mind flicked back to the apology from earlier. He couldn't be sure whether Washington had actually meant any of the words he'd said, whether he really didn't know anything about what the project was doing and whether he could have really left his friends, his 'family' because he didn't agree with what they were doing. It made him difficult to trust because it made it seem like it was so easy to switch sides. From what he'd heard it had taken barely any deliberation at all when he wanted to join them.

That wasn't why he was here though.

No, the only reason he wanted to learn more about Washington’s relationship with this other soldier was because he needed intel to get rid of him later. That was it. That was all he had to worry about.

“I… don’t think I can tell you much about that. Whilst it’s undeniable that they definitely had something together, none of it is on record. Partners on the field occasionally but that’s all. There wasn’t anything on his file about them both. May I ask why?”

Smug prick. He knew exactly what was up and Sharkface could tell just by reading the expression on his face. The small smirk, the knowing look in his eyes, everything was there and he was ready to throw his helmet at the man’s head. The Counselor always seemed to think that he was better than the rest of them. The soothing tone of voice, whilst soothing, always held a patronising lilt that he could probably only recognise because of the amount of conversations he’d had to have with the man. Being locked up with someone sometimes caused conversations - when they had the chance to speak, that was. The conversations that they had were meaningless. They never amounted to anything because he was able to shut them down before the man learnt too much about him and his past.

He’d always seemed a little too inquisitive for his liking and it had clicked instantly that he would have to be careful. He’d never thought he’d actually use his nosiness to his advantage. There never seemed to be a need for that.

Now it was his turn to be nosy and intrusive. He needed to know more about this ex-Freelancer because he was nothing like Carolina. She was headstrong and determined, Wash seemed to be a bit more reserved at times and would only really yell and turn into an asshole when he was defending himself. There were some major differences between the two and it was those differences that led him to doubt whether Washington really was part of the Alpha-Freelancer crew.

If this man couldn’t give him the information that he needed, then he didn’t need to be speaking to him any more. Time to evacuate.

“If you can’t tell me anything then you don’t need to know,” He told him, “Thanks for nothing, Price.”

With that, he left the room, another plan forming in his head. There was something different about Agent Washington, and he didn’t like the feeling that it had created. He had to figure it out otherwise it would drive him crazy.

 

 


	6. Is that not the Case?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New, reuploaded chapter

 

Tensions between Washington and Felix didn’t dissipate over the next couple of days. The two only seemed to interact to throw snide comments at each other after their initial argument, other than that they refused to speak to each other. Washington knew that he was being childish, that ignoring half of the team would get them absolutely nowhere when it came to defeating the Reds and the Blues. Just because he knew they were being childish didn’t mean he was going to allow Felix to win. He wouldn’t be able to cope with all the taunting words and the smug comments about how Felix was clearly just better at holding a grudge.

No. Instead he’d taken to plotting.

Felix was the self-proclaimed King of Knives and it was that aspect that Wash had chosen to attack. It was an unfair fight, or it would be. Every training session, even just the little games that the other played to terrorise the team, he was making a mental note of every little movement, every little signal that Felix displayed before the attack. For instance, there was a small shuffle backwards, quickly followed by a lunge forwards, knife held in a stabbing motion. There was the way that he tapped out a small rhythm before his arm was pulled back, sending the knife flying towards whatever his target was. Maybe he had been watching him for too long or maybe Felix really was that predictable. Then again, not all of them had Freelancer training.

Everyone other than the Merc seemed to pick up on the fact that he was plotting something. No matter how long the training session lasted, no matter what time of day it was, Washington was there. Watching. It was hard to not notice really. The new member of the team seemed infatuated with the less favourable leader.

In the back of his mind, he noted just how alike this whole situation was to the Project. There wasn’t a day that passed on the Mother of Invention where they hadn’t shirked off some of their responsibilities to watch the next combat session. Everyone had abandoned their position to watch the fight between Tex, Maine, York and Wyoming. York had sat up until the early hours of the morning to watch Carolina. He had a similar sort of routine with Maine, taking it in turns for them to observe the other. Even if it was something as boring as lock picking or stealth, without fail the two of them had watched, learned, memorised things about the other with the constant excuse of ‘if we’re going to be partners we’ve got to know how the other works’. 

It was almost laughable how many parallels he could draw between the current situation and the times when he was nothing more than a rookie, fighting against Charon and the Insurrection.

Everything was starting to feel familiar. It was starting to feel like a home.

It was terrifying.

“People are starting to say you’ve got a thing for him.”

Wash was sure he’d almost jumped out of his skin when the voice brought him out of his semi-sleeping state. Felix was still below with some of the other soldiers, knives being thrown left and right as the Merc laughed at the fear coming from his victims. Why did people still sign up to train with him?

His head slowly turned, eyes immediately landing on Sharkface in… normal clothes. It was a strange sight to behold. He didn’t usually see any of the main three in anything other than their armour. Not even Washington was in his armour at the minute, instead donned in a black shirt and sweats. Not the most practical but the most comfortable. This was what it was like though, wasn’t it? They didn’t hang up their suit and go home at the end of the day. They went back to their rooms and changed then usually headed for their evening meals before retiring for the day.

Other than telling him what exactly he was doing, all Wash could do was snort in laughter and shake his head, “That’s ridiculous.”

“Is it?” The man questioned, an unimpressed eyebrow raised, “It’s gone midnight and you’re sat staring longingly at him.”

He couldn’t really argue with that logic other than saying that he was staring longingly at his knife but that would surely lead to ridicule.

“I haven’t spoken to Felix in almost a week. Obviously I don’t have a thing for him,” he argued, “Why do you even care? You worried?”

Not the best approach to take, he’d admit but Sharkface was the only person on the squad that he hadn’t managed to crack. Not that he blamed him, he had dropped a building on him after all, and killed the majority of his friends but he’d apologised for that and other than that there wasn’t much else he could do.

“I’m worried about the fact that you’ve not taken any time to actually train this week. It doesn’t matter whether you were a Freelancer. The only reason you’re here is because Locus thinks you’re useful. Fuck that up and you’re done.”

It was cutting. The reason he’d came to this side was to feel useful. Locus had made it sound like he was  _ needed  _ on this team and here was Sharkface cutting that into tiny little pieces and dropping it like confetti in front of his face. Wash quickly turned his head from the man back to the training floor. Sharkface didn’t need to see the effect he had on him. There was no need for that embarrassment to be shared around.

“I’ll get back to training tomorrow,” he conceded.

“I’ll meet you here. Six thirty.”

Then he turned and left, leaving a confused Washington behind. The idea of doing any form of training with Sharkface was worrying enough. There was so much pent up aggression, so many reasons for revenge that it was hard to not feel some form of worry. 

He might as well just accept that he was going to get his ass handed to him.

*-*-*-*

Just to prepare himself, Wash had got up at four. He knew he’d been slacking for a long time. Trying to run training with the Blues was close to impossible and with the constant threat of Freckles, he had little to no chance of being able to tell Caboose what to do. He hadn’t sparred for God knows how long. When Carolina had came back into the fold there had been a few matches but they were often cut short by the rest of the Blood Gulch crew doing something stupid.

When he appeared on the training floor, Sharkface was already stood there, waiting. Everything about the way that he stood just screamed that he was ready to cause some damage and that alone was enough to build trepidation in the pit of his stomach.

“We haven’t got all day, get a move on.”

With a sigh, he fixed his helmet in place before nodding, “Let’s do this.”

*-*-*-*

“I’m done, I’m done,” he finally conceded, gasping for air. He knew that he wasn’t going to be able to beat Sharkface, the man had too much to repay him for and Wash was kind of hoping that if he let him beat the shit out of him then it would make things easier. What he wasn’t expecting was the constant blows to the head and the powerful punches to his gut.

He was currently knelt on the floor, arms wrapped around his middle and it was only then that it hit him how little he had trained. Paying so much attention to Felix really had ruined his skills and he knew that he was going to have to work as if he was that rookie from Project Freelancer again. He had something to prove. He had to make sure everyone knew how useful he was.

“You shouldn’t be paying so much attention to Felix when you need to work so hard yourself.”   
“I get it, I’m pretty shit,” he snapped when he finally forced himself to his feet, “but as soon as I put Felix in his place then I’ll go back to training as hard as I usually do. This is just something that I need to do.”

By this point, Sharkface had pulled his helmet off as well, attaching it to the clip on the hip of his armour as he looked him over. It was impossible to miss the surprise and confusion, even Wash would admit that he hadn’t meant for the outburst.

“Put Felix in his place? That’s why you’re watching him?”

Wash glanced to the ground. What happened to ‘Agent Washington’ that didn’t want to look like a kid despite the fact that he was the youngest member of the squad? What happened to the man that took everything seriously? He had thought he wasn’t one for petty grudges and he didn’t - everything that happened with the Director and the Meta was clean cut revenge. That was something that needed to happen. Everything he was doing to Felix was purely to upset the guy. 

“It doesn’t matter, it’s stupid.”

From the look on his face, it was pretty obvious that Sharkface was thinking the same thing. He didn’t know why exactly Sharkface’s opinion affected him so much but the overwhelming need to get out of the room was there. He needed to nurse his pounding head and he needed to get out of the armour that was suddenly weighing him down too much, suffocating him.

“Don’t let an idiot like Felix jeopardize your chances here. That’s stupid. I thought you Freelancers were supposed to be smart. Then again you didn’t even realise that you were the bad guys so I don’t know what to think. You’ve got a long way to go yet, Agent Washington. I’ll meet you here tomorrow. Six thirty sharp.”

And just like that he was gone and Washington was alone. Again. His head was swimming. Sharkface was playing dirty, real dirty and it was working. Much like Wash was trying to mess with Felix, good ol’ Shark-boy was screwing with his head too. Attacking the Project, insulting his team, one day he would drag Maine into the argument and that would be it. He would break and the rest of them would see just how unstable he really was.

If that happened then there’d be nothing left.


	7. You're Not Going to Like This

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> News arrives of Wash's whereabouts. The Reds and Blues don't really know what to do with the information other than "don't tell Carolina". Sadly, life's a bitch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, this is just a filler chapter because these guys had to appear at some point.

“What do you mean you saw him at the crash site?!”

“I-I… We were looking for Locus and Felix and Washington was there with them!”

This was the last thing they needed to hear. There was absolutely no doubt that Washington had been one of their best soldiers. When he went MIA they were tempted to say KIA because they never thought he would be someone that would switch sides for no good reason. Tucker thought that they all got on pretty well. Sure it had been more like the Reds, Blues and Carolina with Wash on the sidelines but he didn’t think that that was such a big deal.

“Are you sure it was him, Palomo?”

The nod he received made him feel sick. He was trying to come up with any situation where Wash hadn’t deserted them. Washington wasn’t the kind of person that would do that, was he? The thing with the Meta was a completely different story and Washington had changed after that. They all had. They’d grown closer, they’d shared stuff with each other and he refused to believe that the man would just up and leave them, especially for the enemy.

“Carolina is going to be pissed when she wakes up,” He told them all, “Let’s just try to keep it quiet for now, got it?”

“Got what?”

They couldn’t win. Drama followed them wherever they went. He glanced to the entryway as the teal soldier hobbled her way into the room, Epsilon beaming brightly over her shoulder. After the fall she had when she fought Sharkface, they were all worried that she was dead. They’d heard about the failure of Epsilon but they all knew better than to mention it to anyone.

All of them shared a look. Or, at least, Tucker thought that they did. It was hard to tell with their visors. They were all looking at him. They were all waiting for Tucker to take the fall and to tell her what happened and he wasn’t sure that he wanted that job.

“We… We think that we know where Wash is but… you’re not going to like it.”

Her whole frame tensed. Tucker could see it even through the armor. She was preparing herself for the worst and, after everything he’d heard about Maine, he was sure that this wasn’t the first time she’d had to prepare herself in some way.

“Well?”

“Wash… Wash was with Locus and Felix during the battle at Crash Site Alpha.”

 

*-*-*-*

 

That started a whole round of conversation which was basically them trying to come up with ways that would prove that Washington hadn’t abandoned them for no real reason. They were throwing around the words kidnapped and brainwashed like they were playing pass the parcel and everyone was too worried to hold onto those words for too long.

“Oh I know!” Donut started, “What if he’s been seduced?”

Everyone groaned. Tucker probably groaned the loudest because of course that would be something that Tucker came out with. Of course he would come up with the one thing that would make a serious situation seem like a joke.

“Shut up, Donut.” He growled out.

 

*-*-*-*

 

Carolina excused herself after a while. First Maine, then York, now Wash? It seemed like everyone she cared about was destined to leave her. Maine turning into the Meta because of her giving him her A.I., if she had just listened to what York had to say and ignored her ambition to put Texas in her place then maybe her story would have ended differently. She was the only one that probably had a good idea as to why Washington would even want to abandon the team.

There had definitely been some problems between them all after the Director debacle. She’d abandoned him when he probably needed her the most. She’d left him and replaced him with Epsilon. Not only had she caused him to lose Maine but she was the only real support system he had when it came to him and the two teams.

She left him.

Washington really wasn’t as good a soldier as many people thought. He would be the first to admit that and whilst Carolina would tell him his good points - the way he could pick up and use almost any gun and the way he handled knives - she would also tell him that he did have some skills that he needed to work on. That was how they worked back during the project sometimes. If he was really struggling with something then it was her job as his leader to help him.

That was another problem. The redhead had always been too busy trying to be the best that she could be, that sometimes she forgot about her team altogether and she left them behind to suffer when they weren’t good enough.

In many ways she understood Wash leaving them, but that didn’t make it any easier to bare.

“You can’t just blame yourself for this, you know?” The blue hologram appeared in her vision and she turned her head away. “No one’s really surprised that he left. He turned on them when he was paired with the Meta, is it really shocking that he did it again?”

“You don’t know his reasons.” She bit.

Even if he had switched sides, there was still an overwhelming urge to protect him. In their time together over the past few years, her relationship with the blonde in question had developed into a somewhat brother-sister dynamic and she had grown used to that. It felt nice to have a family. But with Wash came the Reds and the Blues and they had became more of a family than she ever thought they would. Carolina was going through all of these scenarios in her head. Was it because she had grown so close to them that he had felt pushed out and unwanted? All of the blame seemed to land on her head. Or at least the majority of it did.

“Look, Carolina, if he has gone to them, then he’s the enemy and that’s that. You can’t let old feelings get in the way. Think of it like the Director. You idolised him until you found out the truth. That’s what it’s gotta be with Wash.”

The A.I. was right. He was always right and Carolina really couldn’t argue against his logic, not when he had Delta on his side. She spared a thought to Delta and Theta, wondering whether this information about Washington deserting them affecting them like it affected her. When they were the true fragments that belonged to North and York, the three always seemed to be having a conversation, even if North and York were talking to different people.

“They’re fine. Theta’s a little shaken but he’s good. He didn’t think he’d lose Wash too.”

The intrusive personality of Epsilon was still something that she really wasn’t fond of. She couldn’t do anything about that though. They needed to be like this if they were ever going to work as a team. He trusted her and she trusted him, that was just how it worked.

“I understand that he’s no longer my teammate… no longer my friend. That doesn’t make it any easier to process and I know that you know that. I know that what you’re saying is right and I know what I have to do, but this? This was never something I thought I would have to do.”

If it came down to it, then she would have to kill Wash. If she didn’t, then who knew what would happen to Chorus as a result?


End file.
